Portable communication receivers, such as pagers, alert the individual carrying such a device that a message has been received. Typical alerting methods include flashing a light, such as an LED, to indicate a message has been received. However, this method requires the user to visually monitor the pager for incoming messages which is not practical if, for example, the pager is carried in the user's pocket. Another method includes generating an audible alert using a speaker or transducer. The user can then hear when a message is received. However, the audible alert may not be loud enough to alert the user of incoming messages in noisy environments. Yet another method includes silently alerting the user by powering a small electric motor which rotates an unbalanced weight so as to produce vibration. The user can then feel the pager vibrate which indicates a message has been received. However, this method requires the user to be in physical contact with the pager in order to feel the alert. Typical pagers sold today allow a user to choose one of the above described types of alert methods. This is accomplished by placing a switch in one of several predetermined positions so as to choose the type of alert method desired.
Some pager users, such as firemen, cannot risk missing a message given the emergency situations that typically occur with these types of professions. These users would typically desire the audible alert method described above. However, these users may, at times, be in a very noisy environment where they may not hear an audible alert upon receiving a message. These users may then desire to enable the vibratory alert so they can feel the vibration upon receiving a message. This would require the user to place the pager in close contact to the body as described above. However, these users are typically required to change their clothing at a moments notice, such as in a case of a fire. Upon doing this, the user may not always be able to wear the pager in close contact to the body so as to be able to feel the vibratory alert. The user must then change the pager's alert back to the audible alert. This would require the user to remember to change the alert of the pager during these situations. If the user forgets to change the alert, important messages may be missed.
One solution to this problem would be to allow the user to enable both the audible and vibratory alerts at the same time. In other words, power the transducer and vibrator motor at the same time. This would insure that, in the above described situations, the user would be able to detect received messages. However, since small handheld communication receivers, such as pagers, are battery powered, the amount of energy available for the device is limited. The transducer and vibrator motor typically consume the most energy in a paging receiver. Allowing the simultaneous operation of both the audible and vibratory alerts in prior art receivers would therefore severely reduce the life of the battery powering the communication receiver.
What is needed is a vibratory alerting device which efficiently generates an audible alert simultaneously with a vibratory alert.